A power line stretches down a 400-foot country road. A pole is to be put at each end of the road, and 1 in the midpoint of the wire. How far apart is the center pole from the left-most pole?

The distance between the center pole and the left most pole = 200 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that a power line has a length of 400 ft.

Three poles are to be put, two on each end and one at the midpoint of the wire.

Let us represent this using the number line as shown in the attached diagram.

To find:

The distance between the center pole and the left most pole ?

Solution:

Please refer to the attached diagram for the number line representation of the given situation.

Point A refers to the starting of the road.

Point B refers to the mid point of the road and

Point C refers to the other end point of the road.

So, point A is a at 0.

Point C is at 400.

The mid point will be at:

The distance between the center pole and the left most pole = 200 ft

none of the above.

for one of the equations to be used in the process, there has to be a term in the equation since squared is .

since there is only a term in the first equation, we cannot derive a from completing the square.

solving with completing the square